Delaney Sexton (left) and Courtney Mandeville worked together at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis through S&T’s Cooperative Education Program. Sexton worked in packaging, and Mandeville still works in brewing. Sam O’Keefe/Missouri S&T

It has been said that beer brings people together. At least that was the case for Missouri S&T students and Zeta Tau Alpha sorority sisters Delaney Sexton and Courtney Mandeville, who worked together in co-op positions at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis.

Sexton and Mandeville worked with S&T’s Cooperative Education Program, which gives students employment opportunities to gain practical degree-related work experience before they graduate. The program is set up so that students can take a break from studies and work full time for one semester or a combination of semesters, which allows eight to nine months of work experience versus the three summer months allowed for internship positions.

Sexton, a senior in engineering management and mechanical engineering from Independence, Missouri, worked in operations, where she managed four bottling lines at the company’s historic Bevo Bottling Plant. She says she had 30 operators reporting to her at any given time during her co-op, which concluded in July.

Mandeville, a senior in chemical engineering from Belleville, Illinois, works as a brewing quality and operations group manager. As she says, she makes the beer taste good. Her co-op runs through December. [Read more…]